Cheese-gage.



No. 770,059. PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904 W. H. FRANK.

CHEESE GAGE;

APPLIOA'IION FILED MAR. 26, 1904.

NO MODEL.

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W'QH. FRANK. CHEESE GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

INVENTOH WZZZMW WITNESSES.-

ATTORNEYS Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. FRANK, OF BURKESVILLE, KENTUCKY.

CHEESE-GAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 770,059, dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed March 26, 1904. Serial No. 200,135- (No model.)

To (ZZZ whon t it may concern.-

Be it knownthat LY TILLIAM H. F RANK,a citizen of the United States, residing at Burkesville, in the county of Cumberland and State of Kentucky, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Cheese-Gages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in that class of cheese-gages which are adapted for use in cutting up cheese into slices of a desired weight, size, and price.

The invention is more particularly an improvement upon that for which I have filed an application, Serial No. 173,606, allowed January 20, 1904:.

The present invention includes several features of improvement which are highly advantageous in practice.

The details of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts are as hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the cheesegage as awhole. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the portion of the base or body of the cheese-gage. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the gage. Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the gage, illustrating the movable knife-guides. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the movable stop, against which the end of the cheese abuts when a slice is being cut. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the device by which a retracting-spring is connected with the slicing-knife. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the means for connecting the spring and knife. Fig. 8 is a detail vertical section illustrating the arrangement and adjustment of a movable side gage, forming an attachment of the body of the gage proper.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the body of my improved cheese-gage is narrow and elongated and made in trough-like form. The base proper, 1, is a Wooden block, and it is provided with sides 2 2 which project above it and constitute side guides for the cheese or other commodity, which is placed on the base and slid along the same as slices are severed therefrom.

As shown, the flanges 2 and 2 are cut away at the right-hand end of the apparatus. On the base 1 and adjacent and parallel to the side flange 2 is arranged a movable flange or-gage 2". (SeeFig.8.) Thisconsists ofanarrowstrip of wood or metal which has the same height as the flange 2, so that their top edges are flush. All cheese made by factories vary in width a quarter of an inch or less, and in order to cut a square piece or slice therefrom the cheese must fit with considerable accuracy between the sides or flanges 2 and 2*. In order to provide for this, I employ the movable gage or piece designated by 2, which is adjustable toward and from the flange 2. Both parts 2 and 2 are graduated in the same manner that is to say, they are marked transversely to indicate divisions in pounds. Thus the first division is indicated by a, the second by the third by f, the next by 1,? and the next by f. These graduations are marked in each direction from a vertical slot 3. It will be seen that the fractional subdivisions a, t, &c., indicate weights of slices which may be severed from the body of the cheese. The movable gage 2 is adjusted by means of cylindrical screws 5, having enlarged heads 5 and passing through horizontal bores in the side flange 2 and entering bushes 6, secured in the movable flange or gage 2 The screws are held from longitudinal movement by means of'pins 7, (see Fig. 8,) whose points enter a circumferential groove in the screws. The said bushes 6 are screw-threaded internally, corresponding to the thread of the screws 5. It is thus apparent that by rotating the screws the gage 2 will be moved away from or toward the flange 2 correspondingly, and that thus the passageway for the cheese is narrowed or widened. It is manifest that this adjustment will be made according to the width of the body of the cheese, which is placed on the base 1 and slid along the same to be cut into slices. The gage serves to hold and guide the cheese in such manner that the slices severed will have uniform faces instead of being cut at a greater or less angle, as might otherwise be the case.

The vertical slot 3 before referred to is extended as a groove across the body or base 1 and through the opposite side flange 2, as indicated in Fig. 1. The side flange 2 is provided with two vertical knife-guides 8 and 8, which are separated to receive the knife or cutter 9. Their upper inner corners are beveled or inclined in opposite directions to facilitate the entrance of the knife between them. The knife 9 is'supported in such manner that it may be slid along the body of the cheese-gage, as will be further described. The base 1 has two parallel, horizontal, or lateral arms 10. Thus said arms constitute practically a part of the base-frame of the apparatus. Upon these arms are erected two .inclined standards 11, which are connected by horizontal guide-rods 12 and 13, as shown. The knife 9 has a hinge and slidable connection with the rod 1 1, and it is connected with the rod 12 by means of a spiral spring 1 1, which is also slidable on the latter. The spiral spring is permanently attached to the knife at a point removed a short distance from the fulcrum, and its opposite end is provided with a hook adapted to loosely engage the rod 12, so as to slide easily thereon. The fulcrum or hinge 15 of the knife 9 is an elongated sleeve or thimble adapted to slide easily on the rod 13. The spring is made of such strength that it normally holds the knife elevated in the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, and it is apparent that in use the handle 9 of the knife is seized and pressed downward to bring the knife to horizontal position. The elongation of the hinge 15 serves to hold the knife at right angles to the base 1, since the rod 13, on which the hinge slides, is parallel to the base. The means for attachment of the spring to the knife are illustrated in detail in Figs. 6 and 7 The latter figure shows a device 16, consisting of a metal plate having screw-holes and end portions which are partly severed from the body of the plate and bent downward into U form. These parts are indicated by 16 and serve to receive the back of the knife 9, to which they are riveted, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 6. As shown in Fig. 6, another plate, 17 is superposed on the aforesaid plate 16 and riveted thereto. The said plate 17 is recessed in its under side and also perforated to receive a screw-bolt 18, which passes through both plates 16 and 17. The end of the wire whose convolutions form the spring 14. is coiled around the bolt 18 in the space provided by the aforesaid recess. 1 thus provide for a firm connection between the spring and the When a slice is to 1 vided with a vertical lateral flange; but in practice 1 find this construction objectionable and have devised a stop which, as here indicated, consists of a vertical flanged plate having a horizontal extension or arm 18, which is, in fact, a vertical narrow transverse flange. It may be formed integrally with the body of the flanged plate and braced by an integral web 19", arranged in front of the arm. This construction or provision of a transverse stop extending across the base is advantageous in this that it arrests. the body of the cheese squarely, and thus the slice to be severed therefrom will necessarily have a uniform thickness throughout. Further, after the knife has severed the said slice from the body of the cheese the slice is easily thrown over the narrow horizontal stop 19, or, rather, the action of the knife itself and the effect of gravity will cause the slice to fall over in this manner, whereas in the previous invention the slice tended to remain standing, and it was more difficult to separate it from the body of the cheese. The present stop is thus much more convenient and eflective in use. The stop 19 is provided with a transverse slot 20, which permits it to be adjusted and clamped by means of a screw 21. (See Figs. 1 and As in the previous invention, the flanged body of the stop 19 is applied to and adjustable upon an abutment 1, constituting a fixedattachment of the base 1.

In my previous invention 1 employedmovable knife-guides 22, (see Figs. 1, 3, and 4,)

the same standing vertical and provided with an elongated base, which is adapted to slide in a suitable recess 23, provided in the flange 2 of the base. These knife-guides are formed integrally with the base-frame, and are thus practically L shape. They may be secured in any adjustment by means of a screw-bolt 24.

It will be understood that when the stop 19 is placed a certain distance from the groove 18 in the base a five-cent slice may be severed, and that if the gage be adjusted twice the distance at which it is placed in the first instance a ten-cent slice may be severed. Of course the adjustment of the stop will be according to the quality and value of the cheese. In place of adjusting the stop 19 for the purpose of severing a ten-cent slice it may be held placed in position for a five-cent slice, and the knife 9 may be adjusted to the position required to enable it to pass down between the movable guides 22 to enter the horizontal groove in the base indicated at 18 Ofv course the adjustment of the knife-guides 2-2 will correspond to the quality and value of the cheese. Since cheese is sold in five-cent and ten-cent slices morefrequentl y than in any other, the two adjustments above described are most frequently made in practical use of the apparatus. When it is required to sever two pounds or a two-pound block, the cheese may be slid along the base until it reaches the right-hand number 2 on the side flange 2 and the knife will then be slid to the left until in position to pass down between the knife-guides 8 and 8, or, on the other hand, if the cheese be introduced from the right instead of from the left it will be slid to the right until it reaches the left-hand number 2 on the flange 2. Thus the graduations on the flange 2 and at the right and left of the slot 3 thereof enable cheese slices to be severed with convenience in whichever direction the cheese may be slid along the base 1. It will be noted that the knifeguides 8 and 8 and 22 are all beveled or inclined corresponding to the angle of the knife when in the elevated position shown in Fig. 1. By this construction contact between the edge of the knife and the said guides is avoided when the knife is being adjusted to the right or left, and yet the guides extend to due height.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1. In a cheese-gage, the combination, with a base upon which the cheese to be cut is placed and slid along, and a supplementary attachment consisting of a frame having two parallel rods, of the knife havingahinge and slidable connection with one of said rods, and

a spring attached to the knife and having a slidable connection with the other upper rod,

substantially as described.

2; In a cheese-gage the combination, with a suitable base, a horizontal guide arranged adjacently, and a knife having a hinge connection with said guide, a spring attached to a fixed support at one end and attached to the knife at the other, the means of attachment comprising a plate having flanges which are riveted to the knife, and a second plate secured to the first, and means for connecting the spring with the plates in the manner described.

3. In a cheese-gage, the combination, with 4. In a cheese-gage, the combination, with a suitable base and fixed supports arranged in a plane above that of the base, of a knife which is hinged to one of said supports, and a spring which is attached to the other support and connected with said knife, both the knife and spring being slidable laterally on the support so that they may be adjusted toward or from either end of the base, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

WILLIAM H. FRANK.

Witnesses:

J. O. EWING, M. O. ALLEN. 

